London’s The Ferryman Will Transfer to Broadway

Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman, currently playing in the West End following a sold-out engagement at London’s Royal Court, will head to Broadway this fall. Performances will begin in October at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The Sam Mendes-helmed staging premiered at the Royal Court in spring 2017 before immediately transferring to the West End Gielgud Theatre, where the production is scheduled to continue through May. The play earned both the Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play. The play is set in Northern Ireland in the early ’80s during the Carney farmhouse’s annual harvest celebration and feast. The festivities are halted, however, by an unexpected visitor. Butterworth’s additional works include The River and Jerusalem – both of which premiered at the Royal Court before receiving Broadway engagements. More details here.

Huey Lewis and the News Musical Heart of Rock and Roll in the Works

A new musical inspired by the iconic songs of Huey Lewis and The News is coming to the stage. Titled Heart of Rock and Roll, the musical features chart-topping hits such as “The Power of Love,” “Stuck with You,” “Hip to Be Square,” “If This Is It,” and many more. Huey Lewis and The News achieved international fame in the early 1980’s with the release of their smash album Sports, and went on to redefine rock & roll superstardom for the MTV generation. Their astonishing string of chart-toppers produced 19 Billboard Top Ten singles through the ’80s and ’90s, three of which went to #1, including the global smash, “The Power of Love” which was nominated for both an Academy and Grammy Award. More details here.

The Secret Garden to Return to Broadway

The Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden will return for its first-ever Broadway revival next season. The new production of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon’s musical will open in the 2018–2019 Broadway season, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle. Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox, a young, Indian-born English orphan sent to live with her cold and distant aunt and uncle in Yorkshire. There, Mary discovers a decrepit garden, which she sets out to bring back to life. The Secret Garden made its world premiere in 1989 with Virginia Stage Company before premiering on Broadway in 1991, where it ran for over 700 performances. The cast included Rebecca Luker, Mandy Patinkin, Robert Westenberg, John Cameron Mitchell, Alison Fraser, and Daisy Eagan, who won a Tony Award for her performance as Mary Lennox at the age of 11. More details here.

Harry Connick Jr. to Star in Broadway Bound The Sting

Two-time Tony nominee Harry Connick Jr. will star as Henry Gondorff in the world premiere of The Sting at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey this spring. The new musical is based on the 1973 Oscar-winning film, with a book by Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), and music and lyrics by Urinetown songwriting team Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, with Connick Jr. The Broadway-aimed engagement of The Sting will begin March 29 and is scheduled to play through April 29. Set in Chicago in the 1930’s, The Sting invites audiences into a smoke-filled world of cons and capers. The story follows small town grifter Johnny Hooker and big-time hustler Henry Gondorff, who plot to bring down the city’s most corrupt racketeer. The Universal Pictures movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning seven – including Best Direction, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. Connick Jr. made his Broadway acting debut in The Pajama Game in 2006, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. His other Broadway credits include On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, and extended concert engagements. He is also a Tony nominee for Thou Shalt Not, for which he wrote the music and lyrics. More details here.